Prior to 1945, electoral competition in the United Kingdom exhibited features which make meaningful comparisons with modern results difficult.
For more information about what is meant by the term "swing", see Swing (politics) A party's share of the vote at a general election is not always matched at subsequent general elections, but given the five-year maximum term of a Parliament since 1911, reductions of 10% or more (on the national level) or around 30% or more (in individual constituencies) are unusual.
These records detail the change in the share of the vote by parties when compared to the same constituency in the previous general election.
In some cases, such as Brent East in 2005 for the Liberal Democrats, the figures should be framed by the context of a by-election in that constituency between the two elections.
The five largest shares of the vote won by any candidate, since 1918, are as follows: The largest number of votes cast for a single party nationally in a general election was 14,094,116 for the Conservatives under John Major in 1992,[5] although this resulted in a parliamentary majority of just 21 seats.
[1]: 101 The largest majority received by a woman is 38,823 (71.4% of votes) by the Countess of Iveagh elected MP for Southend in 1931.
Labour's worst vote was 2.2% for Samuel McLaren in Glasgow Bridgeton in 1935 and in 2010 for Jonathan Todd in Westmorland and Lonsdale.
[14] However, in the pre-secret ballot era, some candidates stood at the hustings but for various reasons did not contest the poll, and hence could be recorded with no or few votes although in effect they were not standing.
The only restrictions are that a candidate must be a Commonwealth or Irish citizen, not legally disqualified, with the valid nomination of ten electors from the constituency.
The last seats in Great Britain to be uncontested were Liverpool Scotland and Rhondda West, at the 1945 general election.
Three seats were contested only by Labour and Conservative candidates at the 1979 general election: Birmingham Handsworth, Dudley West and Salford East.
Additionally, Howling Laud Hope has contested 10 general elections as of 2024, but has never won a seat.
Those who succeeded after further general elections include: It is unusual for a candidate who has been unsuccessful on more than a couple of occasions to finally win a seat.
Among women, namely: For a comprehensive list of MPs with total service of less than 365 days see List of United Kingdom MPs with the shortest service Notes See Baby of the House of Commons Possibly the oldest known first-time seat winner was Bernard Kelly (born 1808) who was aged 77 when he became the first MP for the then new seat of South Donegal in Ireland at the 1885 general election.
Lord Robert Grosvenor: Fermanagh and South Tyrone, 1955 It is of course common for former (defeated) MPs to seek re-election, often in their old constituencies, especially if they are marginal or bellwether seats.
a The parties making up the National Government changed throughout this period Currently, all British Parliamentary elections are invariably held on a Thursday.
On rare occasions, polling in an individual constituency may be suspended, usually as a result of the death of a candidate.
The last occasion was at Thirsk and Malton in 2010, where polling was delayed for three weeks owing to the death of the UKIP candidate.
Since the major mainland parties now routinely contest all seats, except the Speaker's, such rare victories tend to come from independents or splinter-parties.
Notes: The rare occasions where the party which won the previous election did not contest the seat.
Participation in, and outcome of, general elections can be influenced by changes in electoral law or practice.